Transport and deposition of solid phosphorus-based mineral particles in urine diversion systems

ABSTRACT

The deposition of solid phosphorus-based mineral particles is a common problem in urine diversion systems, which occurs in transport systems, particularly in horizontal pipelines. In this work, particle deposition behaviour in turbulent flow in a 3D horizontal pipe was simulated by using the Euler–Lagrange method. The effects of particle diameter, particle density, particle shape factor and fluid flow velocity on particle deposition behaviour were investigated. The results showed that the deposition rate increased by 9.92%,6.88% and 6.88% with increasing particle diameter (10-90 $\mu \mathrm{m}$), particle density (1400 kg/m³–2300 kg/m³), and particle shape factor (0.2–1), respectively. For particles with larger diameters (>90 $\mu \mathrm{m}$) or larger density (>2300 kg/m³), the deposition rate of these particles was almost reached 100%. It was found that gravitational sedimentation was the dominant deposition mechanism in low fluid flow velocity range (0.1–0.5 m/s). As fluid flow velocity increased (>0.5 m/s), turbulent fluctuation became the dominant factor that affected particle motion behaviour, whereas the effect of gravitational sedimentation on particle deposition behaviour declined significantly, and the increase in fluid flow velocity no longer significantly affects deposition rate. It was found that the deposition rate decreased by 29.13% as the fluid flow velocity was increased from 0.1 m/s to 0.5 m/s, while the corresponding deposition rate only decreased by 14.24% when the fluid flow velocity was increased from 0.5 m/s to 2 m/s. The optimal flow velocity was found to range between 0.75 and 1.25 m/s, which may mitigate the deposition of mineral solids in urine diversion systems.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Urine diversion
• particle deposition
• turbulent flow
• gravitational sedimentation
• numerical simulation

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for the support of National Environment and Energy International Science and Technology Cooperation Base.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [Zifu Li], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National key research and development plan (2019YFC0408700), Natural Science Foundation of China (51808036), Youth Teacher International Exchange and Growth Programme of USTB (QNXM20210029), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, No. FRF-AT-20-03.